Conductor Anchor Node installation marked a first for the offshore industry in South East Asia when Norway’s Neodrill AS and its Perth-based partner ICON Engineering designed, fabricated and installed a Conductor Anchor Node (CAN) for an exploration well off Western Australia — the first CAN deployment of its kind in Australasia.
The CAN is a specially engineered suction anchor with an integrated, pre-cemented conductor. Installed by vessel ahead of the drilling rig’s arrival, it removes the 36-inch (42-inch) top-hole drilling, conductor running and cementing operations from the rig’s critical path — work that would otherwise tie up expensive rig time.
ICON’s CAN was fabricated at a construction yard in Batam, Indonesia, before being loaded and seafastened for transport. It was installed at a water depth of around 1,500 metres on a West Australian deepwater exploration well, using the Siem Amethyst Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS) vessel, placing the well foundation on location ahead of the rig.
Why Conductor Anchor Node installation matters for soft-soil wells
Neodrill’s Conductor Anchor Node technology is built on the same suction-anchor principle used in offshore mooring for decades, adapted to also carry a well’s top-hole conductor. Pre-installing that foundation before the rig arrives gives operators greater load capacity in soft seabed soils — the conditions this exploration well presented — while avoiding some of the stability risks associated with conventional wellhead systems.
ICON’s role, from design through installation
The project drew on the same disciplines behind ICON’s wider work in rig-installed wellhead platforms and conductor tensioning — capabilities the company applies across exploration and production wells throughout the region.
Industry recognition at the 2018 AOG Conference
The completed CAN featured on the cover of Oil & Gas Australia magazine at the 2018 Australasian Oil & Gas Exhibition & Conference (AOG) in Perth, marking ICON and Neodrill’s first CAN deployment in the region.
ICON continues to work with drilling contractors and operators on conductor and wellhead foundation solutions for challenging soil conditions — get in touch if your next exploration well calls for a Conductor Anchor Node installation.
